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FRIDAY, Oct. 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Use of stimulants among college students was once thought to be a problem among high achievers seeking energy and focus to study.Not so, according to new research that links misuse of these so-called "study drugs" to binge drinking and marijuana use. The stereotype of students bumming a prescription medication like Adderall or Ritalin to study is off the mark, it suggests."Stimulant use may be a kind of catch-up behavior," said study author Ash Warnock, a doctoral student at the University of Georgia College of Public Health, in Athens. "Some studies have shown that students who party with drugs and alcohol on the weekends use stimulants like an academic catch up because they're behind on their studies."The report — recently published in the...

FRIDAY, Oct. 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Years of exposure to air pollution and traffic noise could make you more vulnerable to heart failure, a new study warns."We found that long-term exposure to specific air pollutants and road traffic noise increased the risk of incident heart failure, especially for former smokers or people with hypertension, so preventive and educational measures are necessary," said lead study author Youn-Hee Lim, an assistant professor in the section of environmental health at the University of Copenhagen."To minimize the impact of these exposures, broad public tactics such as emissions control measures should be implemented. Strategies like smoking cessation and blood pressure control must be encouraged to help reduce individual risk," she added.Lim's study...

FRIDAY, Oct. 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Accidental burns among U.S. children rose by one-third during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study."COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders inevitably created a new dynamic between children and their social environment. One result was the increased risk of burns those children experienced," said Dr. Christina Georgeades, a study author and pediatric surgery research fellow at Children's Wisconsin, in Milwaukee."Understanding specific factors that contributed will be key in minimizing the risk of future burn injuries as we continue to navigate the pandemic environment," Georgeades added in a news release from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Many children stayed home from school and may have been unsupervised at...

FRIDAY, Oct. 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Social distancing and mask mandates during the pandemic nearly eliminated cases of the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) among children, a new study finds."Numbers don't lie. Face masking, and proper hygiene and isolation, can be effective means to protect the vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and young children, during the respiratory virus season," said study author Dr. Osama El-Assal, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio.Seasonal flu can be deadly for medically vulnerable children, and RSV causes about 300,000 emergency room visits a year in the United States, the researchers noted.Like the rest of the nation, Ohio instituted school closings, travel restrictions, social distancing and face...